Apparatus for stowing cargo.



A.,W. CURTIS. APPARATUS FOR STOWING CARGO. APPLICATION FILED APR.23, 1914.

Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

[NZ/ENTER (71 7/7 07? l/Q/zzr/j 6 7-747 FINE WIT/M5555 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR WILLIAM CURTIS. OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

APPARATUS r012, STOWING CARGO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

Application filed April 23, 1914. Serial N 0. 833,909.

a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of l-Vashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Stow-ing Cargo, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved system of conveying appliances which is especially adapted for use in stowing cargoes aboard ships.

The object of the present invention is the provision of apparatus including a clamp which is arranged to be detachably engaged with a frame member such as a deck-beam of a vessel to furnish means for connecting a. block thereto at positions whereat the tackle may be advantageously led for the convenient disposal'of the cargo when stowing the same.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of my improved blocksecuring clamp. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Figs. 3 and at are longitudinal vertical and horizontal sectional views, respectively, of so much of a marine vessel as is necessary to be shown in order to illustrate the application of my invention.

A clamp, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is comprised of a frame having two complementary members 5 and 6 which are forged or otherwise formed, of steel or an equivalent. Each of said members is provided at one end with a jaw 7 having at its inner side ratchet teeth 8. At the base of a jaw, a member extends outwardly, as at 9, in a substantially rectangular direction from the jaw, thence downwardly, as at 10, returning by an inclined portion 1lto a depending tongue 12 which is disposed to be in alinement, or nearly so, with the respective jaw The offset portion 10 of a member 5 is bored and screw-threaded for engagement with the threads of a clamping-screw 13 which extends through a hole provided in ing from a power-driven winding parts, as will such as the web 15 of a deck-beam, is grasped between the jaws 7 while the ofi'set portions 10 straddle the beam flanges 15 The tongues 12 are provided with holes to receive a ring 16.

The principal use to which my invention is applicable is in stowing heavy articles, such as timbers, in the hold or between the decks'of a vessel and especially in the spaces adjacent to the vessels sides but which is now accomplished in a laborious manner and with a consumption of considerable time.

In using the invention. the aforedescribed clamp is secured to a deck-beam, as 17, Fig. 3, and a snatch-block 18 is engaged to the clamp-ring 16. A timber, as19 for example, is first drawn forward within the vessel by means of a rope or cable 20 lead- I drum (not shown) to a snatch-block 21 attached to a stanchion 22 or other rigid place for securing the same and, after passing about the block-pulley, has a lead 20 provided with a terminal hook 23 which engages in a choker-line or sling 24 secured to the timber.

When .the timber is thus drawn forward 'to be opposite the place where it is to be deposited, the cable is slacked, a bight 20 (Fig. 4) is formed in the lead 20 and engaged over the pulley of the snatch-block 18 which is supported by my clamp. The hook 23 is then disconnected'from the sling 24 and passed with the attached end of the cable, as at 20 over the timber, thence around its side remote from snatch-block 18, and finally beneath the timber and to the clamp where the hook is caught on the ring .16, whereupon the cable is again wound upon the referred to drum, thereby causing the cable as it is drawn in, to effect the rolling of the timber in a transverse direction with respect to the vessel into the position in posed to be in proximityto the jaws, the frame-structure is not-only well adapted to withstand any distortion when subjected to lateral strains, but the power of the screw is applied to exercise a relatively strong gripping force at the jaws.

Having described my invention, what I claim, is-

1. A tackle-block attaching device, comprising a frame having two members provided with'opposing jaw and tongue ele ments at the opposite ends of the respective members, a clamping screw engaging with both of said members, and block-attaching means connected to the tongues of both of the frame-members.

2-. A tackle-block attaching device, comprising a frame having two members provided with opposing jaw and tongue elements at the oppositeends of the respective members, said members'being provided intermediate such ends with offset portions, a clamping screw engaging with both of said members at the ofiset portions thereof, and block-attaching means connected to the tongues of both of the frame-members.

3. A tackle-block attaching device, comprising a frame having two members provided with opposing jaw and tongue elements at'its opposite ends, teeth provided on the opposing faces of said jaw-elements, means for coupling the members together at the tongue-ends and serving forthe connection of a tackle-block to the frame, and a clamping screw: for drawing said members into juxtaposition at the tongue-ends and to efi'ect the engagement with an object interposed between the j aw-elements.

4. A tackle-block attaching device comprising a frame having two members provided with opposing jaw and tongue elements at opposite ends of the respective members, and a clamping screw engaging with both of said members, said screw serving to draw the tongue elements in juxtaposition with each other when an object is clamped between the jaws. I

Signed at Seattle, Wash, this 15th day of April, 1914.

ARTHUR WILLIAM CURTIS.

lVitnesses PIERRE BARNES, FRANK K.-VVARW10K. 

